Producer defends pics: "She's like my angel little sister"

Receive the latest celebrity updates in your inbox

Producer Adam Shankman, 44, published photos of the 16-year-old starlet pouting while she straddles a chair in shorts and a tight vest.

A new set of racy photos threaten to further tarnish Miley Cyrus' not-so picture-perfect image.

The Disney starlet, who vowed to stay away from naughty photo shoots, was photographed posing provocatively in pictures posted on Twitter by the producer of her latest film.

Top Entertainment Photos

Producer Adam Shankman, 44, published photos of the 16-year-old starlet pouting while she straddles a chair in shorts and a tight vest. A second photo shows the smoldering starlet pressing up against the filmmaker in images he apparently took on the set of her latest film "The Last Song."

"Little photo shoot with the girl," he wrote under the first photo.

The filmmaker, who directed Disney star Zac Efron in "Hairspray" and is producing the starlet's new movie, defended the photos Monday and said there was nothing inappropriate about the risque shoot.

"Miley is a sweet angel who works tirelessly and endlessly, and is allowed to have fun in the make up room!" Adam Shankmanposted on his Twitter page. "Seriously! Lighten up or no more behind the scenes pics! She's like my angel little sister."

This is not the first time the pint-sized star has gotten into hot water for racy photos. She is has been photographed in her underwear in pictures that appeared on Twitter and stirred controversy when she appeared in pictures striking a "slant-eye" pose on the micro-blogging site.

In an issue of Vanity Fair last year, Miley posed topless for the magazine with a blanket wrapped around her chest in photos taken by Annie Leibovitz. She was 15 at the time.

"I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed," Miley said in a statement last April.